


Calm as Still Water

by SeaSpectre160



Series: Whumptober 2019 [1]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Gen, Season 1 Spoilers, Shaky Hands, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 06:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20848946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaSpectre160/pseuds/SeaSpectre160
Summary: WHUMPTOBER 2019 PROMPT #1: SHAKY HANDSNeedle was shaking in front of her. She had left the tunnels and was now creeping through an alley, holding her sword out in front of her, but why was it shaking?





	Calm as Still Water

**Author's Note:**

> And here’s my first entry in Whumptober 2019. While last year I focused on only one fandom and two characters, this year I am posting for multiple fandoms. Some will be multi-chapter fics, with one prompt per chapter, others will be oneshots. Some fandoms will get multiple entries, some may only get one. Some will be crossovers, some will not. Some will be connected to pre-existing series, some will stand alone. I honestly haven’t decided them all, yet. This is also my first posted GoT fic, although I do have a half-finished draft that probably won’t hit the internet for another year or two.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I don’t own ‘Game of Thrones’ or any associated media. None of the characters mentioned herein are mine.

_“Stick ‘em with the Pointy End.”_

That was what Jon had told her. It was what she did.

_“All men are made of water. Do you know this? If you pierce them, the water leaks out, and they die.”_

That was what Syrio had told her. But that hadn’t been mere water leaking out of that stable boy. Water was clear; it didn’t have colour. It didn’t smell, unless it was dirtied by something else, and it certainly didn’t smell like metal. No, that was blood. Blood like when she would accidentally cut herself while practicing with daggers and short swords that she’d snuck out of the armoury or her older brothers’ rooms. But more. So much more.

She hadn’t even thought about it when she did it. All that had been running through her mind was that she’d wanted him _away_ from her, that she had to run and hide until… until…

She didn’t know what she was going to do, what her next move would be. All she knew was that she wasn’t safe. She would never be safe in this shithole of a city.

Needle was shaking in front of her. She had left the tunnels and was now creeping through an alley, holding her sword out in front of her, but why was it shaking?

Oh. It was her hands. Her hands were shaking. She tried to stop, to take a deep breath. _Fear cuts deeper than swords_. She had to stop being afraid.

But they wouldn’t stop. So, she found a tiny, secluded nook to jam herself into, set her sword down (but where she could easily pick it up), and tried to control her breathing, clasping her hands together to try and stop the shaking.

_Fear cuts deeper than swords_.

She had to calm down. Calm as still water. That was what she had to be. Or she would end up dead. Just like Syrio. And Jory, Heward, Wyl, Hullen, Desmond, and maybe even Father…

No. _No_. She could not let herself believe Father was dead, not until she saw the body herself. Even if the very thought of seeing her father’s dead body made her hands shake harder and her stomach churn.

Fear cuts deeper than swords.

She had to stay calm. Calm as still water. If she stayed calm, she could think things through and find a way to save herself, and Father, and even Sansa, if she was still alive. She just had to be calm, and patient.

She took a deep breath, picked up Needle with hands that were still trembling, and set off to find a safer hiding place.


End file.
